The Geoparks are defined first and foremost as a network, whose members are committed to working together in co-operation and through sharing experiences. All the Geoparks thus constitute the "Global Geopark Network" which meets every 2 years at a world conference. The last one took place in Italy in September 2018.
There are also 4 continental sub-nets: Africa, South America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. The "European Geopark Network" therefore brings together the 75 European geoparks. Different working groups are led through this network on the major themes of the Geoparks: Geological heritage and Research, Education, Geo-tourism, etc..
Histoiry and key figures
| 1991 | | International Declaration of the Rights of the Memory of the Earth in Digne |
| 1997 | | Emergence of the Geopark concept in Europe |
| 2000 | | Creation of the European Geoparks network |
| 2001 | | Creation of the Global Geoparks network |
| 2015 | | The label is integrated as a programme by UNESCO |
| 2020 | | There are 147 Global Geoparks spread over 41 countries (7 in France) |
In France
There is also a National Committee of Geoparks in France which brings together the seven UNESCO Global Geoparks:
- Géoparc de Haute-Provence, 1st geopark in the world
- Géoparc du Luberon (supported by the PNR)
- Géoparc du Massif des Bauges (supported by the PNR)
- Géoparc du Chablais
- Géoparc des Monts d'Ardèche (supported by the PNR)
- Géoparc des Causses du Quercy (supported by the PNR)
- Géoparc du Beaujolais
In 2019, two new French territories are in the process of applying: the Normandie-Maine Geopark and the Géoparc Armorique.